surprise ending
by coconuthorse
Summary: Carmen is pleasantly surprised.


It's quiet back at headquarters at the end of the day. She's curled up on her comfy chair in her office, mentally patting herself on the back on a job well done. Although Zack and his new partner managed to recapture most of the loot, she made away with a few priceless treasures that she is eager to add to her collection. She sips at her glass of wine and lets out a small sigh of contentment. The perfect end for a special day.

A knock at the door interrupts her pleasant musings. "Enter."

One of her henchmen shuffles in, carrying a small box with FRAGILE written in bold letters on every side. "Got a package in, boss, thought you should see it."

Very odd. Headquarters from the outside looks completely abandoned. No one, except for her employees, should know the place is even inhabited.

"Who delivered it? Who did they say the package was for?" _And why did you even open the door? _she wants to ask. Now this location is compromised. But she doesn't bother, because it's too late to do anything about it now. Except maybe start hiring smarter henchmen in the future.

"Some woman, said it was for Isabella. Told her she had the wrong place, but she was pretty insistent about it -"

Carmen pushes him out of the way as she runs for the door.

_Very few people know about that name, and all of them work at ACME_, she thinks as she bursts through the entrance and looks around to see if there is any trace left of their mystery delivery girl.

No such luck.

But she knows that if ACME knew where she was, they would have moved in on this location the minute they knew. That leaves only one other person.

_Ivy._

* * *

Back inside, she announces to her employees that she would not like to be disturbed, and locks herself in her suite at the back of the complex. She picks up the box, feeling its weight and trying to discern what's inside. Small and fragile narrows it down a little, she thinks, but not by much.

A grin creeps up on her face. She's always loved a good mystery. She opens the box and carefully removes the many layers of protective wrapping to uncover what she suspects is a gift. And she didn't think Ivy would remember - or particularly care to.

Carmen is not a woman easily amazed, but when she sees one of the eight lost Faberge eggs sitting inside, her eyes grow wide.

It's the Mauve egg, and it's beautiful. She spends a considerable amount of time gazing at the exterior reverently and admiring its astounding craftsmanship before delicately opening the egg to see the interior, even though she knows that the "surprise" of the three leaf clover holding the portraits of the royal family is missing.

Instead, she finds a tiny portrait of her face nestled inside. It's very well done for someone that is not a professional artist. Her trademark red hat tips over her one eye, the other of which peeks out at the viewer. Ivy matched the colour perfectly.

Carmen flips the picture over. Her grin morphs into a smile of delight.

_Surprise_.

* * *

Eventually, she sets the egg down gently on the table to retrieve the folded note still inside the box.

_I got your address from one of your old henchmen in prison that I put away a while back. (Don't worry. I'm not a detective anymore, so I won't tell ACME where you're at. Zack can find you on his own.)_

_I hope you like it. And before you get your hopes up, no, I didn't steal it. The egg was my grandmother's before it was mine. She said it was passed down from my great-grandmother, and she got it from my great-great-grandmother. Don't ask me how she originally came by it. All I know is that she was Russian, and got out of the country long before the revolution started. But I'll bet the egg wasn't a gift when she got it. I think you and her would have gotten along very well. _

She sets the note down with a chuckle and looks over at the egg again, glinting in the soft lighting.

She hates to admit it, but this is the best birthday gift she's received yet, and that's including the presents she got herself from her earlier heist.

And she didn't even have to steal it.

She had been wrong before. Relaxing with wine, a Faberge egg and a note from a...friend - _this_ was the perfect way to end her special day.

(Tomorrow she starts planning for Ivy's birthday).


End file.
